“A” was exploring with the new materials and said that he had made a star. “A” shares what he knows about stars, he says that “it has these” (pointing to the tips of the shells) and “stars are in the sky where the blue people are, our ancestors.”

“A prickly tree”

“A” then used the sticks to represent a prickly tree. He was challenged to make his tree on the table.

I’ll put some more leaves on it and I’ll see what it looks like then…

“A” started to place the sticks on the table and used rocks and shells as well. He said, “the rocks and shells are the leaves.” “A” worked on his project and peered out the window looking at a tree outside the classroom. As “A” worked on his project he would ask that a picture be taken of his work, he would look at the picture and then say, “I need to add more leaves.”

“Mr. Nice Tree, because I made it with all kinds of leaves, they have brown sticks at the bottom.”

As “A” worked on his tree he says, I know that potatoes come from the ground.” When “A” was done he said, “take a picture now, because it has all its leaves.”

“A” then shares his knowledge about trees. He says, “I know you can climb trees but not at school, that’s why trees at school have no branches at the bottom, so we won’t climb them.”